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Velindre Cancer Service

Patient Experience

At Velindre Cancer Centre, we want to hear about your experiences. That’s why we use our patient survey system to gather feedback from patients in three simple ways: 

  • At dedicated kiosks throughout our hospital 
  • On tablets provided by our friendly volunteers and staff 
  • By scanning QR codes posted around the building 

We share the survey results with our leadership team and different departments, making sure your feedback goes into our quarterly and annual reports. By listening to what you tell us, we can celebrate our successes, find ways to make positive improvements to our services.

We look for patterns in the feedback so we can understand what our patients need and experience. Then we create improvement plans to address any concerns. Your voice helps shape our services and drives meaningful change across our organisation.

An infographic demonstrating feedback about your experience: 94% statisfaction, 99% being well cared for, 99% receiving assistance when needed, 97% patients understood their care and 87% waiting time on the day.

We review areas where the feedback is less than 100% to ensure we improve our services based on what our patients tell us.

You Said

We Did

“It would be nice to be able to buy snacks while waiting for Clinic.”

A new coffee shop has now opened in the Outpatients Department waiting area.

“More transparency as regards appointment purpose and duration.”

Due to the nature of the Assessment Unit, length of stay cannot always be predicted, however we will communicate openly and update you.

“Things could have been put in place quicker, i.e. mental health.”

Whilst referrals to other services can take some time, we will sign post to other resources in the meantime.

“Requested the option of vegan food.”

We linked with the cafeteria to make this possible.

“Magazines or newspapers in the waiting room.”

Our Infection, Prevention & Control are exploring safe ways to provide reading material without risking the spread of infections to our vulnerable patents.

“Lack of signage where work is being undertaken.”

We have raised this with our Estates and Health and Safety teams to ensure appropriate signage is in place.

“Time on waiting times electronic board is incorrect.”

We have raised this with IT support to resolve.

 

Wall of Thanks

Every month our Wall of Thanks intranet page is updated with the latest heartfelt messages that have been shared with us by patients. The messages recognise the amazing difference our staff make.

Everybody was wonderful Velindre Cancer Centre. I owe my life to you. Thank you

All the staff from all departments are absolutely amazing. Nothing is too much trouble, and any concerns or issues are dealt with immediately. It is indeed the Hospital of Hope xxx

Thank you all (at Radiotherapy) so much. You've given my husband a chance. He's so special to me: we've been together 67 years and now thanks to you all, here's to another few.

To all the staff on radiotherapy, thanks for looking after me. You're the best! Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.

To all the staff members at Velindre Radiotherapy Department. Thank you for looking after me during my treatment. You all do a fantastic job at the centre with your care and compassion. I can't thank you enough.

A big thank you [to the ladies on Radiotherapy reception] for your warm smiles every morning. Remember to take time for yourselves because you deserve it.

 

Complaints

We always aim to provide the very best care, but we know sometimes things might not go as well as they should. If you're unhappy with any aspect of our care or service, we want to hear from you - your feedback helps us improve.

How to raise a concern:

• Talk to us in person

• Phone or write to us [ADD CONTACT DETAILS]

• Ask a member of staff for support - we're here to help you through the process

 

We follow the Wales Putting Things Right guidelines, which means:

• We'll acknowledge your concern promptly

• We'll investigate thoroughly

• We'll be open and honest about what we find

• We'll tell you what we're doing to make things better

Between July and September 2024, we received 24 complaints - that's about 4 complaints for every 10,000 patient visits. While this is a small number, each concern matters to us and helps us learn how to improve our care and services.

  • 10 complaints managed as Early Resolution - within 2 working days
  • 8 complaints managed formally under the Welsh Putting Things Right regulations
  • 2 complaints reopened, indicating that complaints were managed satisfactorily.

 

Based on your feedback, we have made the following changes:

  • Strengthening Safeguarding: We identified safeguarding as an area for improvement in some concerns. As a result, we’re now working more closely with our Safeguarding team, ensuring earlier discussions and referrals. This collaboration helps us provide stronger support for patients who may be vulnerable. 
  • Improving our clinic letters: We’re working to create a consistent process for sending clinic letters to patients, making sure that communication is clear and standardised across all teams. This will help patients stay informed and reduce any confusion about their care.
  • Explaining Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) care: Some patients have told us they expect to see the same consultant at every clinic visit. To address this, we’re improving how we explain the role of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) in delivering your care. We’ve introduced better communication strategies, including using digital screens in outpatient clinics and adding explanations about MDTs in the first letters you receive about your appointments.
  • Supporting clinicians to improve communication: We’re helping clinicians improve their communication skills after common concerns were identified. By providing direct support, we aim to ensure that all patients feel heard, respected, and fully informed during their appointments.

 

Incident reporting

We work hard to keep everyone safe and provide the best care possible. That’s why we encourage our staff to report any incidents—or even near misses—through our incident management system. Once an incident is reported, we:

• Investigate straight away to see what went wrong 

• Resolve any immediate concerns 

• Identify and fix the root causes to prevent recurrence 

We also share lessons learned with the entire organisation, and we watch for trends that can guide improvements at local and wider levels. If an incident causes moderate or higher harm, we conduct a detailed review and investigation to ensure we’re doing all we can to keep our patients and staff safe. 

 

 

Based on our analysis of incidents, we have made the following improvements:

  • Improving email communication: We identified challenges with the use of emails, particularly the high volume of email traffic and the use of emails for clinical communication. To address this, we set up a dedicated working group, which has already met to explore solutions. Their goal is to develop better processes that enhance communication and ensure patient safety. 
  • Sharing safety updates across the Trust: A “Speedy Cascade” page has been created on our Trust Intranet. This page makes key patient safety information accessible to all staff, ensuring vital updates are easy to find and refer back to for learning and improvement. 
  • Addressing delays in letter approvals: We found some patient letters were waiting over 30 days for approval to be sent. To fix this, we’ve updated our improvement plan and reopened the issue as a key priority. It is now monitored through our senior leadership team (SLT) every month. Additionally, training sessions and clear communication have been shared with all relevant staff to reduce delays.